Let's try a brief update*

Lots going on, long time since I last told you about it. No time now, really.

• The replacement "a" key was a bust, so I ordered a new keyboard for the laptop. Installed it yesterday. Am loving words with a's in them again. Again. Aging. Aggressive. Aggregate.
• Just in time, because I'm ready to write my big paper for that course work I've been avoiding. I saw my advisor on Tuesday. I haven't done jack about this thing aside from gathering some information, so I went in to tell her that I give up, I'll just take the F. She didn't like that idea. Told my sculpture prof the same thing and he freaked. My GPA is high - not 4.0, but something around 3.7high or 3.8low. Yeah, a zero would fuck that shit up. So my advisor gave me a pep talk and some direction and said "you've got 10 days." It's down to 8... well, 7.5 now. Last night I organized shit and wrote a rough draft outline. This morning I started reading the research articles I've chosen. As I suspected, once I get started I really get into it and regret procrastinating. I drive me crazy.
• Diva is home from jail, on probation, doing relatively well. There are more details about stuff with her, but I won't go into it now. She turned 14 last Sunday. And she's been wetting the bed every night for a week. My house stinks like sour piss. I HATE that!
• Which leads to the next bit of excitement around here: the washing machine broke. Diva broke it, actually. For those who don't know but want to, check the labels for "washing machine" to get lots of gory detail about my struggles with this washer. Diva failed to cinch the strap around the machine to hold the door closed. She put the strap on, but didn't tighten it. And she put an uneven load in it - one heavy thing and a bunch of light stuff. So of course it was shaking like Elvis. The door latch broke, but Superman fixed that one easily. However, the computerized control panel above the door also came loose and rattled around for I don't know how long. It now doesn't control shit. Superman looked up info about replacement parts for that, and can't figure which of the three things are the right one. The cheapest of these things is almost $200. Together he and I declared it totaled. It's been busted for about two weeks. He hopes to take it today to the place in town that sells used appliances to trade it for something that works. I've given him carte blanche to pick out a new one. He does laundry more often than I do anyway.
• In related news, I have been to the laundromat a few times in the past two weeks. I don't actually mind the laundromat most of the time, but I dislike the time and money it uses. This morning I spent almost $14 on the whites, Diva's stinky sheets from last night (I did three loads of her bedding yesterday morning), and the clothes Superman and I have dirtied in the past less-than-a-week.
• To make matters more complicated, the drain in the kitchen is leaking. Behind the wall. Into the wood under the vinyl flooring. The kitchen smells of rot, and has for a while. It took us a while to discover the source. Superman crawled under the house Thanksgiving morning as I was cooking the feast. Wow. Happy Thanksgiving. He turned off the water to the sink the day after Turkey Day and we haven't had the use of it since. Plumbers and insurance adjustors have been lurking around. Alas, the cause of the damage is not something our insurance covers, so it's all up to us. Superman and a good, handy friend of his say they can do it. His friend is one of these motivated, fired up people who will help get us going. They say they can finish the job (or most of it) in a day. Oh, I hope so! In the meantime we are using a lot of disposable "dinnerware" (Greg! Plastic utensils!) and eating out. Expensive! At Christmas time!
• I could go into a rant about Christmas, but I just can't afford the time. Perhaps after next Friday.

TTFN

*Turned out to be not too brief. No surprise there.

Busy days

I finally got my chance to hear Gregory sing! * He recently joined the ensemble group Chanticleer and has been on tour with the group for the past 2.5 weeks. Tuesday was the last concert in the tour, and was at the Newberry Opera House. Newberry is a small town along Interstate 26 between Greenville and Columbia, South Carolina. Their claim to fame is the Opera House. It's about 40 miles east of here. I hadn't been before Tuesday. It's a nice little place, the town and the venue. But that's not the important thing. No, the important thing is that I got to see Gregory! And hear him sing! I have tried but failed to see Gregory a couple of times this past summer. Here we are in the lobby after the performance. He looks great. I look big. Never mind. 

He is one more blogger friend I have now met. I so enjoy meeting my blog buddies. Gregory has a personality as big as all outdoors and it shows in his writing (to which I cannot link. Sorry if that frustrates you. Trust me, dears, he is fabulous!) When we met Tuesday afternoon it did not seem like a first meeting. I felt like I was having lunch with an old friend, which I guess I really was. The transition from reading his blog to exchanging email and text messages, to giving him a great big hug was smooth as silk. 

Superman and I got to Newberry around 3 in the afternoon on Tuesday. Gregory was just chillin' at the hotel, so we met him there. We took a walk down Main St. to a local eatery where Superman and I had late lunch/early dinner. We sat in a booth there in the restaurant talking and laughing for a couple of hours before Gregory had to go to rehearsals. It was so much fun! 

Superman and I hung around, walked around downtown Newberry, chilled in the lobby of the hotel (which is right across the street from the Opera House) until time to go to the show. The show, let me just say, was fantastic. If you ever get a chance to hear Chanticleer, take it! They'll be at the Met in early December for 4 shows. There's a concert calendar on the Chanticleer website. 

'Twas rather late when we returned home Tuesday night. I was so pumped that I had a hard time getting to sleep. And Wednesday I had to get up early and do Good Mommy things.

I woke up Wednesday morning at 7:00. I rolled out of bed, took my meds and used the bathroom, slipped on my shoes, grabbed my purse and was out the door. I took all the kids to school and Superman to work. I went from there to Wal-Mart where I bought stuff that Diva and Sproing need for the field trip they are on now. [Field trip aside: The 5th grade classes at the kids' school go on an overnight field trip every year to Myrtle Beach, where they "sleep with the sharks" at the Ripley Museum thing over there. They sleep in the walkways that run under the big shark tank. It's a big deal. Diva and Sproing have been looking forward to it for months. They left this morning (Thursday) and will be back at the school tomorrow at noon. It's very peaceful at home this evening. :)]  After checking out at Wal-Mart and getting the cash I'd need to give the kids for their trip, I took my tired old self to the laundromat. Superman and Twitch had put a few loads of our dirty laundry into the van before we left home. 

Wait, there is an addendum to this series of events. After I left the store I had to get some food and coffee. I stopped at the IHOP for a good breakfast (pumpkin pancakes at the IHOP this month y'all. Go. Eat. Enjoy) and coffee. My waiter was a fabulous little cocoa fruit cup with huge "diamond" earrings. I called him "dear" and "honey" and smiled so sweetly at him and gave him a big tip. It was a wonderful breakfast all around. 

OK, so now off to the laundromat, my favorite place in town. (cough, hack, gag) There are so many dirty clothes, towels, sheets, etc. etc. Way too many for me to deal with all at once. Sproing wanted something specific to wear on the field trip which of course was dirty, and requested specifically that it get washed. So I told him to put it in the hamper that Twitch was loading into the van. They loaded towels (we have an amazing quantity of towels, even considering the size of the household) and jeans and Superman's work pants. Heavy stuff that is very difficult to wash by hand. 

I only took 3 hampers, one of which was half full. It made 5 loads in the washers at the laundromat. I can handle that. It isn't overwhelming. I ponied up the cash for the dryers, too. It took an hour and a half, I think, and I got everything washed, dried and folded. It was so exciting. The clean stuff is still neatly folded in the hampers right here beside my bed. Follow through is a problem in our home. 

I got back home sometime between 11:00 and noon and was hot, dirty, tired, and my head itched. I got a shower and shampoo then went through my email for a little while. I napped for less than an hour, then it was time to hit it again. I picked up Twitch from school, wasted an hour doing I have no idea what, then took Sproing and Diva to their soccer game. Superman and Twitch went to gather a load of firewood from a source we'd discovered. (fallen trees, not nicely chopped and split cords of wood). 

Last night's soccer game was the last of the season, so we had the awards "banquet" afterwards. The team met at the local Pizza Inn for the buffet and awarding of the trophies. It was ... an experience. Similar to other soccer award banquets I've been to. And that I don't want to repeat. And that I didn't want to do last night.  It's another one of those good mommy things, you know? The kidlets had a blast, and it's over, so we smile and soldier on. 

Once we got home and the kids were preparing for bed we realized that the clothes Sproing wanted for his field trip did not in fact make it to the laundry basket in the van. I wondered, because of what I washed yesterday morning the only thing he had in the load was a couple pair of underwear and some socks. So at 8:45 last night I took another load of the kids' clothes and lugged my tired ass back to the laundromat. It was anticlimactic. 

I did however feel very "good mommy" yesterday. In addition to washing Sproing's clothes on a special extra trip to the laundromat, I got all kinds of goodies for their trip. I filled up a bag for each of them with a disposable 35mm camera, a book of games and puzzles to do on the 5 hour bus trip, snacks for the bus trip, a white t-shirt for the art project they are supposed to do during this educational experience, mechanical pencils (that don't need sharpening) to use on their puzzle books, and money (cold hard cash!!) for tonight's dinner and the gift shops. 

By the time I got to bed last night I was exhausted. Unfortunately I had Coke with my pizza at the pizza buffet. Coke, you know the stuff with caffeine? Bad idea. I was very tired but couldn't go to sleep. As I lay in bed wishing I could sleep the pizza came up and bit me in the esophagus. Acid reflux. Ick. I had to get up and stay vertical for an hour or so. I piddled around on the computer, mainly read my email, for that time. I was too sleepy and weird to write anything coherent, which is why I'm posting this entry tonight rather than last night. I finally was able to lie down and go to sleep about 1:30 this morning. Superman, the dear that he is, took all the kids to school this morning. When I woke up and looked at the clock I was shocked to see it was 11:55! Yay! I slept almost 11 hours! I needed it. My muscles are sore from all the walking around we did in Newberry on Tuesday and shopping, laundry, and going to the soccer game yesterday.

It's 8:00 now. I'm tired (still or again, I'm not sure which). Sproing and Diva aren't here, so it's relatively peaceful. Superman is going to take me out to dinner soon. We'll bring back something for Twitch. 

Tomorrow I see my therapist. Visits to her office usually do me a lot of good, help give me perspective, and encourage me. I should take the next category of laundry to the "wash-ateria" as my Grandmama used to call it. Don't know yet whether I'll have the gumption for that little adventure. The kidlets will be home after school tomorrow, and I'm sure I'll be bombarded by excited and very tired younguns. But right now I'm going out to eat with my sweetie. 

*I would link to his blog, except he has deleted it since he is now such a public figure.

Friday evening

I am so tired.  Sleepy.  No energy.  Wiped out.

It's a rainy night.  Been raining all day.  Nice soft gentle rain.  With the window open I hear the drops plopping on the leaves of the tree outside.  Such a sleepy sound.  Such a sleepy Java.

My big exertion of energy today was to take a LOT of clothes to the laundromat.  You recall the grasshopper I pulled out of the washer on Wednesday?  Well, the load of clothes I washed next never finished.  The washing machine did the same thing it did last week.  The latch broke. Something more than just the latch is causing the problem.  I think.  Superman says he's going to look at it.  We can't afford the repair man again until after payday.  

So I gathered some of the laundry.  The stuff that was easy to access.  Mostly clothes and bedding from Diva and Sproing's room, and the stuff that has been piling up in our bathroom. Superman wore his last pair of clean socks this morning.  I've been commando most of the week. I shoved all those baskets into the van, stopped by the bank for some quarters, and went to the laundromat.  Fun times.  

I sorta kinda wanted to do the laundry this morning.  But this morning I was so sleepy I just couldn't budge.  I got up with the kids and took everyone to school.  I came home, checked email, then took a nap.  After I woke up from the nap I hauled the laundry out.  But by then it was almost time for the kids to get out of school.  I usually let the young'uns walk home from school, but today it was raining.  I had time to load up the machines at the laundromat before zooming to get the kidlets.  It was complicated and I'm too tired to write about it, but I ended up getting Superman from work then, too.

Meanwhile, back at the laundromat...  Nine washers full of our laundry.  Nine. At $2.50 per load. That's $22.50 to wash not even all the laundry we produce in a week.  I wasn't going to spend any more money to dry the clothes, not when it cost so much to wash them and I have a perfectly good dryer at home.  So Superman and Twitch helped me load the clean wet stuff back into the van.  The dryer is running now.  Superman will finish that up since I am too tired to hang with it tonight.

And now it is time for me to shut down the computer, turn out the light and go to sleep.  Because I am that tired.